I have never, ever understood this. Gas is for the most part is a simple commodity. Sure, some prefer a premium brand (like Shell) to a cheaper one (like ARCO), but I can’t for the life of me figure out why there is such a wide variance even within a single mile or two of a city (and amongst the same brand!) I would think that supply and demand would reign supreme here. It’s the same stuff.
You get that one gas station that charges $0.10 less than all the others in the area and the lines are out to the street.
So where are supply and demand?
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Gas stations depend on selling snacks and auto service to make money. Gas is a break even product at best.
My cousins own a gas station. They set the price of gas at 2 cents more than Sheetz down the road because my cousins do full service. They make their actual money doing auto repair. The gas is just cash flow. If Sheetz goes up in price on fuel, they go up. If Sheetz goes down, they go down.
My guy down the road from my place makes all his money off of auto repair and especially tires. He sets his price a penny less than the Speedway down the road. That way, people come in and hopefully, later, buy a full set of tires.
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